Chapter 238 Drive directly to Yangzhai
Liu Bei first informed Lu Su, Huang Jiu, and himself about the fact that the emperor was about to appoint him as a hussar general and supervise the three states of Xu, Yu, and Yang. Xiahou Bo and Zhuo Ying will be in the abdomen.
Lu Su and Huang Jiu were overjoyed and stood up at the same time to pay homage and congratulate Liu Bei.
Liu Bei smiled from ear to ear and was humble, but in his heart he felt that he was such a big boy.
I think of myself living half my life, but I can’t even get a piece of land.
Before going to Xuzhou, Chen Changwen tried every means to dissuade himself.
Who would have thought that after entering Xuzhou, in just a short period of one year, not only did he become the Mu of Xuzhou, but he also became the hussar general of the central government. , and was also transferred to the title of Qiaohou.
This is Qiaohou.
The administrative seat of Pei State and the entire Yuzhou, and the lands of Pei and Qiao, are of special significance in the entire Han Dynasty.
The emperor actually awarded it to himself.
He also made himself the governor of Yuzhou and Yangzhou.
It is no exaggeration to say that Liu Bei secretly pinched himself several times, for fear that he was still dreaming.
Seeing Lu Su and others kneeling respectfully before him, he quickly stood up, helped the four of them up one by one, and then returned to the table.
I wanted to show off a little more, but I felt that it would be too much of the majesty of the Lord, so I could only suppress my excitement and turn my attention to business.
"Gentlemen, this is what the dog wants, and I would like to hear your opinions."
Liu Bei then forwarded to Lu Su and others the plan of Liu Feng requesting him to mobilize troops into Runan, then go north, encircle Yingchuan from the south, and seize Linying.
Lu Su was the first to read the letter. After reading it, he forwarded it to Huang Jiu, and then fell into deep thought.
After all four people had finished reading, Liu Bei asked, "What do you think?"
Everyone turned their attention to Lu Su first, but Lu Su looked at Huang Jiu humbly.
Huang Jiu is not young anymore. He is of the same generation as Dong Zhao and much older than Lu Su.
From this point of view, Huang can be regarded as the predecessor of Lu Su and a famous local celebrity in Liang State. He was as famous as Dong Zhao in Jizhou, Hebei Province in the past. He was quite outstanding in terms of ethics, virtue and ability.
Huang felt Lu Su's goodwill and nodded towards this junior, and then said: "Ming Gong, I think this is the right strategy! The prince described it in detail in the letter and the plan is feasible. Even if we send troops Runan, the move is a little bigger, but the angel can reach Liang State in a short time, and Ming Gong can obtain the pastoral rights of the three states. Yuzhou is also where Ming Gong's authority lies, and it can get twice the result with half the effort."
Huang expressed his support. After taking a stand, Lu Su also followed up and agreed: "Ming Gong, this plan has far-reaching intentions. I, Xuzhou, have conquered twice for Cao Yanzhou, and I am well aware of the suffering of lack of population. Su is following the order of Ming Gong to assist Mi Guo Xiangzhong. When Pengcheng was established, it suffered from a shortage of people. "
Pengcheng country is not very big, with only five counties, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the middle is a plain. Except for large lakes, there are only three or four fields. The hundreds of meters of hills can be said to be full of fertile soil, so the population has always been high.
Before being razed to the ground by Cao Cao, this area only occupied one-third of the territory of Donghai and Xiapi, but had a population of half a million, which was only 100,000 less than Xiapi Kingdom. It is conceivable that And know how rich it is.
But now, even though Xuzhou has spent a lot of money and food to recruit refugees, Pengcheng has only attracted a population of about 100,000 so far. After all, it's not just Pengcheng Kingdom that is short of people. Donghai, Xiapi, and Langya also need a large number of people to supplement their numbers.
Lu Su not only had to compete with other states for population, but also with other counties in Xuzhou.
In more than half a year, Pengcheng was able to grab a population of hundreds of thousands. Although Mi Zhu and Lu Su tried their best, they also benefited from the favorable policies of the Xuzhou Prefecture.
After all, Mi Zhu is the future young master’s brother-in-law, Ming Gong’s Bole, and a local rich man in Xuzhou. Lu Su is also the humerus that Liu Bei and his son are optimistic about, so he is naturally the priority to take care of.
But it was precisely because of this that Lu Su understood the preciousness of population even more.
Huang Jiu also stroked his beard and agreed: "Ming Gong, there is something thought-provoking in your letter. If I increase one people, the enemy will lose one. Every time I go back and forth, I will get twice the result with half the effort. This is true."
Seeing it. Seeing that both Lu Su and Huang agreed with this plan, Liu Bei went to see Xiahou Bo and Zhuo Ying, his two confidants, and found that their faces were full of eagerness to try, but they almost didn't take the initiative to ask for a fight.
So Liu Bei made a decisive decision and made up his mind.
"Okay, that being the case, with Xiahou Bo as the chief general and Zhuo Ying as the deputy general, we will lead eight thousand elite troops, pass by Chen County, rush to Runan, set out from Qiang County, and attack Linying."
"Here! I obey Ming Gong's order!"
Xiahou Bo and Zhuo Ying stood up at the same time, bowed down and accepted the order.
"You two have fought with me for many years and have rich experience, so I don't need to say anything."
Liu Bei stroked his beard and said, "Just remember, this battle should be fought with Stability is the priority. If Linying cannot be taken, we can retreat to Qiang County and Yancheng County to defend. Don't let the Yingchuan Yellow Turbans retreat into Runan, let alone let the two Yellow Turbans merge into Runan."
Runan. There are also a large number of Yellow Turban remnants in the local area, but unlike Yingchuan, Runan was not greatly affected by the war. It has a large population, and the power of the government and powerful officials is very strong. Therefore, most of the Yellow Turban troops in Runan were suppressed in the peripheral mountainous areas.
Although the Yellow Turban Army in Runan is more numerous than the Yellow Turban Army in Yingchuan, their situation is worse than that of the other side. The reason is that the power of the Runan government is very strong.
"Here!"
Xiahou Bo and Zhuo Ying took the order at the same time.
Huang then added: "In that case, Duke Ming can open the Suiyang arsenal to replenish the army with weapons and food."
As the capital of the Liang Kingdom, Suiyang naturally has In the arsenal, the weapons and armor accumulated by the Liang Kingdom are stored. These items are consumables on the battlefield, and cannot be cut from beginning to end by one person with one sword.
Liu Bei was in charge of Liang State. The main thing transported by waterway was food, and ordnance was not ranked at all. And if something special happens, will Liu Bei really guard Suiyang's arsenal and not use it?
But at this time, Huang was able to take the initiative to speak. With his status as a special driver, it can be said that he helped Liu Bei solve his worries.
Of course, Huang can do this. Firstly, he is optimistic about Liu Bei. Secondly, Liu Bei is about to take control of Yuzhou. Thirdly, this is also the operation, which is to go south to destroy the Yellow Turban Army.
There are few noble officials who do not hate the Yellow Turban Army.
When Liu Bei heard this, he was overjoyed and said: "Good! Then I'll leave you alone."
Liu Bei's plan was decided and he immediately took the waterway to deliver the message to Luoyang.
Liu Feng is also constantly recovering information and making plans.
When the information from Liu Bei was sent to Luoyang four days later, Liu Feng immediately held a military meeting to assign specific tasks and prepare to send troops.
The troops in Liu Feng's hands were Guan Yu (6,000 men), Taishi Ci (4,000 men), Pan Zhang (4,000 men), Zhang Liao (2,000 men), Gao Shun (2,000 men), Jia Kui's five tribes (one thousand people) totaled 19,000 people, and the navy's four tribes of Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Dong Xi, and Gan Ning had 6,000 people.
There are also more than 2,000 newly recruited Sanhe knights, 300 people from Guanping's other tribe, and more than 1,000 people from Jia Bin's other tribe.
At the same time, there were 3,000 Guo Gong's troops, 1,400 people from Xu Huang's headquarters, and 800 cavalry assisted by Yang Feng.
Except for the navy, which can only mobilize half of the 3,000 men to fight ashore, all other forces can be mobilized.
Therefore, Liu Feng made the following arrangements.
The West Route Army is the main force, with Guan Yu's 6,000 people as the core, and the Navy Department with 3,000 people, with Zhou Tai as the main general, Gan Ning as the deputy general, and Gao Shun's 2,000 people. , and Guo Gong's 3,000 people, a total of 14,000 people.
The main task of the West Route Army is to set out from Yinxinzheng County in Henan Province, go south along the Wei River, occupy Changshe, Yanling, and Xinji, and then use forces other than Changshe County to jointly suppress Xu County .
Liu Feng left all the specific troop distribution and actions to Guan Yu's own command, and only made two requirements.
First, no large groups of Yellow Turban troops were allowed to break out and escape from the direction of Jishui.
Second, use all your strength to capture Xu County and encircle Yingyin from the east.
The Second Route Army is the East Route Army. It sets out from Liang County and goes south along Ru River to Jiaxian County and Xiangcheng, and then directly attacks Yingyang.
This road is all a highway, the transportation is very convenient, and it is also an external battle. It can support Liu Bei's reinforcements in Linying at any time, as well as Liu Feng's middle route army on the front battlefield.
Therefore, Liu Feng assigned all the main cavalry to this group.
This road has Taishi Ci as the chief general, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang as deputy generals. There are more than 8,000 men in his unit, half of which are cavalry.
Liu Feng only has two requirements for this journey.
First, large groups of Yellow Turban troops must not be allowed to break through from the west and go to Jingzhou.
Second, use all your strength to capture Yingyang and encircle Yingyin from the west.
The final middle route army was led by Liu Feng himself, with 4,000 people from Pan Zhang's department, 1,000 people from Jia Kui's department, 300 people from Guanping's department, and more than 1,000 people from Jia Bin's department. , a total of nearly 7,000 people, left Sheyuan Pass, passed Yangcheng, and then went straight to Yangdi.
The Yellow Turban Army in Yangdi is the second largest group in Yingchuan, with as many as 40,000 people.
The number of young men who may fight is only ten thousand at most, and their equipment and weapons are average, far less sophisticated than the Xuzhou army.
If it were a field battle, Liu Feng was confident that he would defeat the opponent within an hour.
Neither the generals nor the soldiers found any big problems with Liu Feng's arrangements. However, Guan Yu and Tai Shici then quietly approached Liu Feng and felt that the strength of the middle route army was too weak.
"Uncle, teacher, the only real enemies in the middle are the enemies of Yangdi. The enemies of Yingyin don't dare to move. And if he really dares to come out, my nephew will really be overjoyed."
Liu Feng's this But I am really not arrogant. The Yellow Turban Army does not have a regular army at all. Except for the generals' personal guards, they are all soldiers and peasants.
This kind of troops with insufficient training, lack of ordnance, and only a bloody and courageous army are the easiest to defeat.
I dare not say too much, but it is not a problem to take one as five.
The Yellow Turban Army lacks long-range firepower and relies solely on short-sighted infantry to attack the gun array. It will really kill as many as they come.
And Liu Feng can retreat along the way.
The northern part of Yingchuan is a mountainous area. If the Yellow Turban Army of Yingchuan dared to gather together and pursue Liu Feng north, Liu Feng would laugh out of his dreams.
Sheyuan Pass in the northern mountainous area is one of the key passes around Luoyang. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Liu Feng only needs to guard this pass for ten and a half days, and the Yellow Turban Army's retreat and home base will be completely eliminated by the East and West Route Army, and then they will be surrounded and annihilated in the hilly areas outside Luoyang.
At the same time, Liu Feng can also receive reinforcements from Luoyang at any time, especially Yang Feng and Zhang Yang.
After Liu Feng captured Gongxian, he had decided to hand over Gongxian to Yang Feng's command.
On Liu Feng's suggestion, Yang Feng planned to farm in Yin, Henan. Gong County was located on a traffic thoroughfare and had ready-made fields, all of which were mature fields cultivated by the Yellow Turbans. It was a godsend.
Yang Feng was grateful to Liu Feng, and sending troops to help was not a trivial matter. Not to mention that Yang Feng originally wanted to surrender to the Xuzhou Army, and later agreed to obtain 20,000 shi of food from Xuzhou.
So Liu Feng's redundancy is quite sufficient.
After all, if it’s not enough, you can still ask Cao Cao for help. This man wants to help others even if he spends his own money.
After listening to Liu Feng's explanation, Guan Yu and Tai Shici felt relieved.
After arranging the battle plan, Liu Feng copied a copy of the plan and sent it to Liang Guo along with the launch time.
At this time, Xiahou Bo and Zhuo Ying of Liang State had already dispatched their troops and borrowed a road from Chen State to Runan.
Although this road is all overland and has to cross two rivers, Xiahou Bo and the others are not slow.
Because this is a main road in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is an east-west traffic artery in the Central Plains. The roads are all stone avenues, and it travels very quickly. Moreover, the Liang State also has many large vehicles and livestock, which further improves the The mobility of Xiahou Bo's troops.
The two parties agreed that the official start would be made on the tenth day of February.
At the same time, timetables for various ministries and stages are stipulated. This timetable is not an instruction, but a reference.
After all, there are no telephones or telegraphs in this era.
Providing a time reference table will also help the branch leader to judge the overall situation.
In addition, Liu Feng also emphasized in the plan that the east and west armies should establish contact with Xiahou Bo's Runan reinforcements as soon as possible, so as to achieve the best effect of coordinated operations.
Time soon came to the beginning of February, and all the soldiers and horses had already stationed themselves at the starting point.
Guan Yu's troops stationed in Xinzheng, Taishi Ci's troops stationed in Liang County, and Liu Feng personally led the Chinese army into Yangcheng.
Yangcheng was already deserted at this time. There were only a few dozen families in the city living among the ruins.
Seeing the army entering the city, these dozens of families were frightened.
Fortunately, the army did not embarrass these dozens of families, but moved them to Gong County in the rear.
Subsequently, various types of grain, ordnance, medicinal materials, clothing, carts, livestock and other materials were continuously sent to Yangcheng.
On the early morning of the tenth day of February, Liu Feng announced his oath and set off in Yangcheng.
The entire army of 7,000 people marched from Yangcheng and rushed towards Yangzhai in a mighty manner.
Between Yangcheng and Yangzhai, there is a small village called Yangguan.
This place is close to Yangzhai, less than ten miles away from each other. It is an important stronghold on the outskirts of Yangzhai. Therefore, three thousand Yellow Turbans were stationed here.
However, among the three thousand Yellow Turbans, there are less than 600 men capable of fighting, and among them there are only two or three hundred young men.
After learning this news, Liu Feng decided to eat this Yellow Turban Army first, giving a small shock to the Yellow Turban Army in Yangzhai.
Pan Zhang couldn't wait to jump out and wanted to fight, but Liu Feng calmed him down.
There are two reasons.
Now that Pan Zhang has made enough contributions, it is time to give others some opportunities. Guan Ping, Jia Kui, Jia Bin, Liu Fu and others who came this time all need credit more than Pan Zhang.
Secondly, Pan Zhang's troops are the only core of Liu Fengzhong's Route Army. How can they be dispatched casually? They should keep their front hidden and sharp, waiting for a big battle.
After appeasing Pan Zhang, with Jia Kui and Guan Ping looking eager to try, Liu Feng handed over the battle to Jia Kui, with Guan Ping, Jia Bin, and Liu Fu as his deputies, along with the preparation time Inside, all opponents must be eliminated within half an hour.
As an important stronghold, the connection between Yangguanju and Yangzhai is naturally quite close, and there are also roads leading to and from it. The cavalry only takes a moment to arrive, and the infantry only takes half a minute. hour.
Already when the Xuzhou Army appeared, the alarm bell had sounded in Yangguan Junei.
At the same time, the wolf smoke was ignited on the mounds piled up specially in June, and the billowing black smoke shot straight into the sky, much faster than the scouts.
Almost at the same time, the Yellow Turban Army in Yangzhai City received a police report. This is the fundamental reason why this part of the Yellow Turban Army was arranged to gather in Yangguan.
Liu Feng was followed by the knights under Jia Bin's command, and watched as Jia Kui, Guan Ping, Liu Fu and others gathered around Yangguan.
The soldiers on the front line began to put on armor, and moved forward with long-range firepower to test, suppressing the firepower on the settlement wall, and at the same time looking for weaknesses.
As for Pan Zhang's troops, they marched to the southeast of Yangguan, set up their formations by the river, and then sat on the ground to eat and rest.
Although they are very relaxed now, in fact the soldiers under Pan Zhang have the heaviest task. They need to deal with the main force of the Yellow Turbans from Yangdi.
At this time, in Yangzhai City, the soldiers on the city tower immediately conveyed the news to the governor's mansion after seeing the smoke coming from Yangguan Ju.
Yangzhai is the county seat of Yingchuan County, but it has been destroyed many times.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, it was broken by Qu Shuaibocai, the Yellow Turban Army of Yingchuan at that time, and later by the Xiliang Army, and it changed hands several times.
However, fortunately, no fierce siege broke out, and the occupying forces did not set fire to the city when they withdrew.
Therefore, many buildings were still preserved in Yangdi City, which allowed the Yellow Turban Army to quickly fill this gap after the Yingchuan government was completely defeated by the Xiliang Army.
There are 40,000 Yellow Turban troops in Yangzhai City, which is the second largest Yellow Turban group in the entire Yingchuan. In addition, there are more than 30,000 Yingchuan civilians.
These people farmed around Yangzhai, and without anyone taking care of them, they actually took root in Yingchuan.
In the original history, after Cao Cao entered Yingchuan, these Yellow Turban troops were easily wiped out by him, and then they were still placed in the middle of Yingchuan County.
This is also Cao Cao's special advantage over the Yellow Turban Army. In the eyes of the Yellow Turban Army, Cao Cao is half one of their own and someone they can talk to.
When he was in Yanzhou Jibei Kingdom, without this relationship, Cao Cao's tens of thousands of people would not be able to defeat millions of Yellow Turbans in one go, even if he won.
It was precisely this wave of fat that directly made Cao Cao inflate.
Not only did they seize the land of the local nobles in Yanzhou and give it to the Yellow Turbans for farming, they also directly slaughtered Bian Rang's entire family.
Although Bian Rang is indeed not a good person, Bian Rang's father once received the kindness of Cao Teng, the famous virtuous eunuch of the Eastern Han Dynasty, also known as Cao Cao's grandfather.
So when Cao Cao first arrived in Yanzhou, he felt that Bianjang was one of his own, and wanted to ask Bianjang to speak for him. He would use Bianjang's reputation to appease the nobles in Yanzhou and cede some of their interests to the Yellow Turbans. .
But he never expected that Bian Rang not only ignored him, but also caught Cao Cao there every day and attacked Cao Cao's father, which completely angered Cao Cao.
Liu Feng felt that Cao Cao went too far in this matter, that is, he should not have killed the whole family and made way for everyone. If he only killed one person and made way for one, the consequences might not be so serious.
Liu Feng is different. Liu Feng's father is Liu Bei, and Liu Bei's teacher is Lu Zhi. These two masters and apprentices are the mortal enemies of the Yellow Turban Army, and they almost stepped on the corpse of the Yellow Turban Army.
So Liu Feng was prepared for a hard fight, and even if he won, these Yellow Turban soldiers would have to be disrupted and dismantled, placed separately, and slowly digested.
(End of this chapter)